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"The intellectualisation
of football has
always foundered
on a simple problem-
-the players. Doing
all your most
rewarding thinking
with your feet seems
to dull the philo-
sophical impulse.
Unless, of course,
you are Dutch.
According to legend,
Europeans played
a moronic, muscular
version of the world's
game, until Holland
proclaimed its vision
of total football in the
1974 World Cup,
and enlightenment
dawned."

From:
Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football
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Nigel de Jong: "Mark and I only need one look"

Wednesday, 16 June 2010

Coming up to the World Cup in South Africa there was a lot of talk about in the Netherlands about the 'Big Four'. For the defense and the block of two in front of that there was little attention, but against Denmark it were those players who got the best notes.

Especially Mark van Bommel and Nigel de Jong did well together in midfield. "And that wasn't the first time," Nigel de Jong told FCUpdate.nl. "Mark and I have been playing there together for a while and there's a good chemistry. The vuvuzelas make it a bit harder to coach each other, but we don't have to talk much. One look is often enough to understand each other."

The fact that the forwards got all the attention in the past few weeks hasn't bothered De Jong: "No, I don't necessarily have to be in the spotlight. It's fine when people primarily look at the forwards, those are the boys that have to score the goals. We're happy working hard and make sure everything is in balance."

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